'Cuphead', made by Studio MDHR and 'Bendy and The Ink Machine', made by The Meatly Games, feature the 'Rubber Hose' animation style, which I have integrated into my original cartoons.
Both games contain conventions of 'Rubber Hose' such as thin, hose like limbs and a minimalistic house style. Their style originates from the very same art style that came into existence during the 1920-1930's. Typically seen as children cartoons on the surface, the subliminal themes are much darker and twisted, for older audiences. The general message in these cartoons taken on a darker path, is the idea that people look back at nostalgia for things in rose tinted glasses, as things may not have been what they seem.
From being exposed to this song at an early age, it has gone on to strengthen my appreciation for 'Spaghetti Westerns'. This is due to the visual connections to the genre, as represented by the Mis-En-Scene of the music video, featuring saloons, cowboys, a wild west like setting and the dusty, rustic brown color palette.
The music falls into the alternative rock genre, featuring guitar, drum and bass. it captures distinct sound qualities that resemble Sergio Leoni's countless soundtracks for films such as 'A Fist Full of Dollars'. Just like Sergio Leoni's compositions, This track also bleeds with emotion. I consider this type of music a powerful tool in film making because it establishes the tone of a scene very well. In my own films, they also are built around the music as I consider relating the music to the visuals the most potent form of expression in film.
The cinematography follows redundant conventions of 'Spaghetti Westerns', such as extreme close ups of facial expressions, as well as long takes. cinematography such as this is used by Quentin Tarantino in his films to emulate this genre. Extreme close ups and long takes allow for the characters to communicate their emotions on the screen, without any dialogue. I believe in the notion that actions speak louder than words, which explains why the majority of my films feature little to no dialogue at all. This style could possibly be used the this project, if it is decided that the project follows this genre.
This Youtube producer creates vlogs everyday, that follow his daily life. He stands as an inspiration for film making, as he had no qualifications in film making but decided to start from scratch. His determination to create something new everyday has inspired myself to attempt a Youtube career.
The key technical aspect of his videos is the wide array of cinematography and editing skills, as well as the initiative to create uniquely composited shots. This is a point of interest that I may take from in my film, as the ability to create entropy through creating unique compositions of shots (such as the mountain top shot above), is an interesting way to construct an original, visual style. Just as his editing amplifies the music accompanying the film, my films also amplify the backing track to match the rhythm of the music to the pace of the editing. This type of editing is most impactful and noticeable in a montage reel, which are also present in most of Casey's videos. This links back to my fondess of background music to accompany a film, as music is a strong element in his videos as well.
Quentin Tarantino is a director that has captured the tone and feel of Spaghetti Westerns and has adapted his own works, using this genre, in order to produce a variety of films that explore completely different ideas and narratives. For example, 'Inglourious Basterds' Follows a group of Nazi hunters in world war two, whereas 'Kill Bill' Follows a revenge tale of a woman who is hunting down her old gang who betrayed her. This clear use of conventions from the Spaghetti Western genre runs through all his films like a spine.
Tarantino is not afraid to inject a sense of humour into his films as well. This humour takes on the form of a self parody of some sorts, as films such as 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' focus solely on serious drama. This style of disjuncture of comedy and drama is considered to be his most distinct quality in his films.
The project can borrow from his by setting a tone for a film that has disjuncture of seriousness and comedy in the same scenes. I am fond of the combination of comedy and drama together, as the two make each other more striking, in my opinion.
The Game 'Bioshock' by Irrational Games is a survival, horror video game, that takes place in a fictional, underwater city called Rapture. The design of the buildings in the city follow an Art Deco style, much like that of the art deco style of the Rockafella centre in New York. The game takes place in the mid 1960's and so the art style is appropriate to the historical context.
The Art Deco style is so viusally appealing due to it's use of black and a bronze like colour palette. the minimalist approach in terms of pattern is easily associated with mid 20th century buildings in New York.
The Band 'Black Honey' is retro- Indie, rock band that features the combination of electric guitar, drum and bass like many others. However, their lead vocalist is female in this group, of which may be seen in other bands, is actually an uncommon aspect to have in dominantly male bands. This adds a certain quality to the music in terms of the prosodics of the vocals fluxuating more than a male singer could.
The visual brand identity for the band is based around the aesthetics of retrospective american diner. This can be seen in the E.P. cover above, which shows the lead singer driving down a long road in desert resembling the Arizona desert, in a convertible car that has a bullet crack in the windscreen. The cactus, the long straight road are redundant visual markers that place this in an american setting. The bullet hole and the cross hanging from the rear mirror connote stereotypcal thoughts of the deep south, as gun laws are most relaxed in this part of the Country and the deep south States, such as Texas, have a culture that is still deeply rooted in very verbal Christianity.
Many of their songs as well as their cover art, take some inspiration from westerns. For example, the cover above shares the same style of graininess as the poster for 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' has. The tracks feature low pitch (almost bass) guitar rifts that have a raw, tin like quality to the sound which sounds similar to the sound quality of instruments in soundtracks from Sergio Leone's films. This quality of raw sounds is shared with bands such as Kasabian. The project could include something similar in sound to this music if it goes down the path of a western.
The Rubber hose animation was the first American animation style to exist and began in the 1930s, with Disney adopting this style into their first animation reels, such as 'Steamboat Willy'. The animation style is distinguishable by the hose like limbs that bounce up and down like rubber and the pie-cut eyes that characters possess. These cartoons have stood the test of time due to their minimalistic approach to visuals and the appreciation of creating animations that , at the time, were still hand drawn on paper, where there were no shortcuts. In my personal work outside the course, I have taken up a passion for drawing original cartoons in the Rubber Hose style. An early concept for the project is to superimpose this style of animation over the top of a live action film, through a process called Rotoscoping.
TM & © Paramount (1968), Director: Sergio Leone. (1968). Once Upon a Time in the West (1/8) Movie CLIP - Two Horses Too Many (1968) HD . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyuwBW9lNa8. Last accessed 6th March 2018.
The Late Italian director Sergio Leone is held as the best, when it comes to creating Spaghetti Westerns. He has made works the like of 'The Fistful Of Dollars' Trilogy and 'Once Upon A Time In The West'. All of his films use soundtrack and sound effects as a tool to narrate every scene. For example, a scene establishing a dusty town will feature a slow winding piece of orchestra, whereas in scenes of impending danger and tension, the soundtrack will increase on pace and really drive the tone of the moving image.
The video above shows a scene from the film 'Once Upon A Time In The Old West', in which the three thugs confront the ghost like 'the man with the harmonica', His character barely speaks in the entire film, but plays his harmonica to confuse and intimidate his enemies. In this instance, the music from the harmonica almost acts as a weapon itself, therefore the music literally acts as the action piece that drives the plot forward.
These films are so impressive, due to the tangibility of the music in correlation to the film. SOund could be an important tool to drive narrative, if it is done right.
Hans Zimmer has composed the music for many blockbuster films, from 'The Dark Knight' trilogy, to 'Pirates of the Caribbean', all the way to 'Interstellar'. His work features the use of an orchestra, along with some digital sound effects that he has personal synthesised. His method of composing music for is films entails watching completed footage and designing a sound that would fit that scene. My work takes inspiration from his through the concept that visuals and sound can compliment each other.
The Witcher Video Game series is based on the works of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. It takes place in a fantasy, medieval setting, in which monster hunters called Witchers are genetically enhanced humans that are paid to kill monsters that are inspired by Polish and European myths. My specific inspiration comes from the concept art for the video game adaptations. They show how they illustrate the worlds and creatures in as mature manner as possible. The sheer detail captured in the texture of the creatures is something which my drawings aspire towards, as my drawing style adopts both minimalist and a detailed approach.
The Show Black Mirror contains standalone episodes that are connected by their focus on the tragedy of the human condition when a certain piece of technology is introduced. On the surface, it may seem that the technology is antagonist that creates the downfall for the characters, however it is always about how mankind fails itself, when given abilities by technology.
The tone of the show follows a dark humour of sorts that echoes through Charlie Brooker's other works. This is done to break up the seriousness that such dark storylines carry. Episodes always end with some sort of twist, which is a useful film making tool that can trick the audience perception of the film.
Charlie Brooker also has made documentary style programmes that comment on topics such as current affairs and Television. The tone of his shows follows a satirical approach that mocks and criticises the subject matters but in a non serious, humouristic manner. This style can be seen in many Youtube videos, as the "Funny Critic" role emerges in media. This could be a potential path for the project, as I naturally think analytically in the same way that Charlie Brooker narrates his shows.
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